


Chosen

by foxy11814



Category: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-13
Updated: 2014-06-25
Packaged: 2018-02-04 11:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1777045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxy11814/pseuds/foxy11814
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Based on the 2005 movie) After his family and he moved inside the Chocolate Factory with Willy Wonka, Charlie Bucket believed he was the luckiest boy in the world. He may be that, but he never realized how hard it would be, either.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Chosen**

Charlie Bucket opened his eyes and stared through a hole above his bed in the little shack he had called home for the majority of his life. When he used to do this not all that long ago, the first thing he would usually see was the early morning sky. Sometimes there would be cloud cover; at other times the sun would shine brightly throughout the baby blue atmosphere. He saw neither now…

The lights in the outer room were turned off completely, so the only thing he could really see was the vague formation of another ceiling far above his home's. This, of course, didn't startle him at all. It didn't even startle him the first night he had woken up here, because the sounds of the nearby waterfall reminded him of where he was:

The Wonka Chocolate Factory.

He still couldn't believe it sometimes. Before it all happened, Grandpa George had almost convinced him that things like this didn't happen to people like them…but his grandfather had been wrong, oh so very wrong! He was glad he had never completely given up hope that perhaps he could be one of the few who would find one of Mr. Wonka's golden tickets. And, not only had that happened, shortly afterwards he had also won a bigger prize, the biggest prize of them all: the factory, itself.

Well, it wasn't his, yet, technically; rather, he was Mr. Wonka's heir.

Sometimes it felt so weird to call himself that. He remembered studying about past kings and queens in history class, and his teachers would always explain that "heirs" were the children of royalty who would inherit the throne when their parents died. Nothing in that definition really fit this situation. He certainly wasn't Mr. Wonka's son—he didn't have any kids at all! And, Mr. Wonka definitely wasn't a king.

Well, maybe he was…here, in his own factory. There was no disputing the fact that he was the High Chief of the Oompa Loompas, after all.

Smiling at the thought, Charlie stretched and yawned when a sudden whistle resounded throughout the factory and he heard Mr. Wonka's voice over the intercom exclaim, "LIGHTS!"

Immediately, without delay, beams of artificial sunlight spread throughout the Chocolate Room, and as usual, he heard the sounds of birds chirping overhead, but he never saw any live ones in the factory. In fact, the only birds he had ever seen inside were bird-shaped chocolate bars that were placed sporadically across the room on various different types of candy trees. He had always wanted to ask Mr. Wonka about the chirping, but every time he got in the great chocolatier's presence, the question would never cross his mind. Mr. Wonka always managed to sidetrack him by the million other things that occurred inside this amazing place.

Charlie rolled out of bed and put on a brown sweater and a pair of khaki-colored slacks quickly. He knew he would have a visitor any second now, and he wasn't disappointed when a light knock was heard at the front door. As he rushed down the ladder, he watched his father open the door with a smile and say, "Ah, good morning, Willy! Do come in!"

Willy Wonka stood at the precipice of the door and stared inside the Bucket home. His eyes wandered across the room quickly, studying the occupants, but when his eyes finally settled on Charlie, he grinned and stepped inside. "Good morning. How is everyone today?" he asked in his overly exuberant high-pitched tone.

"GREAT!" Charlie exclaimed as he jumped down from the last few steps and rushed to his mentor's side.

"Wonderful," Willy commented as he turned back to Mr. Bucket, who was currently gesturing towards the dining room table.

"Would you care to join us for breakfast, Willy?" Mr. Bucket asked as he sat down at the head of the table. Willy watched Charlie sit beside his father, so he took a seat between Grandma Georgina and Grandma Josephine.

"Don't mind if I do," he replied. He pulled off his plum gloves and sat them across his lap gingerly, almost nervously.

Everyone in the room didn't comment on Mr. Wonka's actions, but they knew why the gloves had been removed. The gloves had been something of a distraction the first day Willy had decided to eat with the Bucket clan. While they were in the little shack, sounds within the home seemed to be magnified tenfold and all the distractions of the factory in general were shielded out. Because of that, it had been discovered rather quickly that Mr. Wonka's gloves made a lot of noise, especially when gripping silverware since they appeared to be made of a thick rubber that would make low groans or whines no matter how or which way its wearer moved. Without conscious thought, everyone in the house had turned to look at Mr. Wonka every time he had gripped his spoon or brought food to his mouth. After this had happened for maybe the tenth time, Willy sighed, took off his gloves, and seemed to withdraw within himself: he made himself as small as possible and was very careful not to touch anyone else.

That was something everyone had learned quickly: Willy didn't like to touch anyone barehanded, nor could he stand for most people to touch him. Charlie had noticed it on the tour when Veruca Salt had hugged Mr. Wonka and nothing he had seen since then made him believe any differently.

At that moment, Mrs. Bucket walked out of the kitchen with a pot of oatmeal. "How are you this morning, Willy?" she asked with a light smile on her face.

"Very well, thank you," he said with a nervous smile.

Mrs. Bucket served Willy first since he was their guest and then walked around the table to serve everyone else. Once she was seated, Grandpa Joe turned to Willy and inquired, "What is to be done in the factory today, Mr. Wonka?"

Willy seemed relieved that this would be their first topic of the day, and Charlie smiled. The easiest way to settle Mr. Wonka and make him feel comfortable was to discuss his candy or the factory. And, the funny thing was they never seemed to run out of things to discuss with those two topics. Every day, they had something new to talk about, whether it was a new invention, something going wrong in one of the workrooms, or an Oompa Loompa's newest adventure thanks to trying out a new candy or going on a mischievous adventure. Something was always happening!

"Well, today, I'm taking Charlie to the Bubble Room," he answered excitedly with a smile.

"The Bubble Room?" Charlie repeated enthusiastically. That was a place they hadn't visited yet, but he had seen the name a few times while they had ridden on the Great Glass Elevator.

Mr. Wonka's smile grew even wider as he exclaimed, "Yes, my dear boy! I thought since we've been working all weekend, it was time for you and me to have some fun!"

Before Charlie could comment, Mrs. Bucket replied, "I think that sounds wonderful, Willy, but aren't you forgetting something?" When Charlie _and_ Willy turned quizzical brows to her, she sighed and said, "Today is Charlie's first day back to school. He won't be here until this afternoon. As a matter of fact…" She grabbed her husband's hand, looked at his watch, and then continued, "If he doesn't get outside within the next five minutes, he'll miss the bus!"

Both Charlie and Mr. Wonka groaned. They had known all along that today was coming, and neither had been looking forward to it. Charlie had grown accustomed to not being in school during the summer and Willy had gotten used to his apprentice being by his side throughout the workday. Neither liked that their daily routines would be changing.

Forgetting himself and that they had already had a discussion on the topic, Willy muttered, "Couldn't we just hire…"

"No," Mrs. Bucket said, interrupting him, "we cannot hire a tutor for Charlie. I realize that my son is now your heir and he has a job lined up at this factory when he gets older, but he still needs to interact with the world, Willy. He needs his education; he needs his friends. Even _you_ went to school as a child."

It was a one-sided argument that his mother always won. This time, like the last time, Willy simply pursed his lips together and didn't talk back.

Charlie, for one, was a little shocked at this reaction. When it came to others, Mr. Wonka was confrontational when he had to be and would make his sentiments known, but when it came to Charlie's mother, he'd always back down. Charlie wondered if it was because Mr. Wonka knew his mother was right or he simply recognized that his parents had final say. Charlie honestly didn't know.

"Yes, well," Willy said after a few moments, "I guess it will have to wait until he gets home, then." After that, it took him a matter of moments to finish his oatmeal. Willy stood from the table and slipped back on his gloves. "I suppose I need to get to work. I have far too much to do today. I'll see you this afternoon, Charlie."

As he headed towards the door, Charlie jumped up from the table abruptly and asked, "Could you walk with me and wait for the bus, Mr. Wonka?"

Everyone in the room paused as Charlie made his request. No one knew what the answer would be and just as Charlie knew Mrs. Bucket was going to suggest that she or Mr. Bucket take him, Willy turned around and exclaimed, "Oh, of course, my dear boy! Come on!"

Charlie sprung from the table and grabbed his backpack off the floor next to the door. It had been sitting there, packed and ready to go, for the past week. "Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad!" Charlie called out as he ran towards them and gave them a kiss on their cheeks. Then, he followed Mr. Wonka into the Chocolate Room.

=)=)=)

Willy and Charlie were quiet as they walked to the front door of the factory. It wasn't all that faraway. As a matter of fact, the hall that led to the factory front exit was right outside the Chocolate Room, so everyone knew Charlie had wanted to talk to Willy and that's why he had asked the elder gentleman to walk with him to the bus stop.

As soon as the door to the Chocolate Room slammed shut behind them, Charlie looked up at his mentor and said, "I'm sorry I won't be able to help you today, Mr. Wonka."

Willy kept his eyes facing forward as he replied with a sigh, "It's not your fault. Your mother is right: you do need your education."

Charlie nodded slowly and when they reached the end of the hall, Willy opened the door and stepped outside into the dreary morning air. The skies were dark with the threat of rain and Charlie sighed when he noticed that it was brighter and more cheerful in the factory than out.

As they continued to walk to the front gate to wait on the bus, Charlie looked at Mr. Wonka once more and asked, "What was it like when you went to school, Mr. Wonka? Did you like it?" Truthfully, it was hard for Charlie to imagine his mentor in school, so he naturally wondered how Mr. Wonka had fit in and if he had enjoyed it.

As usual when someone questioned his past, Willy got a faraway look in his eyes and he stood absolutely still. No doubt, he was reliving something that had occurred when he was a child. After almost a minute, Mr. Wonka shook himself and said, "I'm sorry. Yes, yes. I enjoyed school."

Something in the way he said it, though, made Charlie doubt the words very much. Mr. Wonka didn't smile; he didn't even try to fake a cheery disposition. Instead, he said the words in a low voice that was barely recognizable as belonging to the great chocolatier.

When the bus was heard and seen in the distance, Mr. Wonka turned to Charlie, knelt down in front of him, and said, "I want you to have a good time at school today, but I feel that I should warn you." When Charlie widened his eyes, Willy cleared his throat and said, "I don't know how things are going to change for you there. You are now my heir and everyone knows you live with me in the factory. Some people who were mean might try to be nice. Some who were nice might try to be mean. Some might try to exploit you." When Charlie wrinkled his brow, he explained, "They might try to use you somehow. I'm not saying any of this to alarm you. I just want you to be aware and come to me or your parents if you have any problems. Okay?"

Charlie nodded after a few seconds of contemplation and mumbled, "Okay."

At that moment, the bus pulled up and Willy immediately stood. He placed a hand on Charlie's shoulder and said confidently, "You'll be back before you know it."

Charlie noticed that Mr. Wonka looked a little worried when he said it, but he breathed deeply and nodded before stepping on the bus anyway. As soon as he was completely inside, he turned around and waved. "Good-bye, Mr. Wonka!"

When the bus door closed, Charlie turned around and finished walking up the steps. When he stood before the rest of the bus' occupants, he knew immediately that Mr. Wonka had been right. Some of the students were looking at him in shock; some were smiling happily at him, and others…others were frowning and furrowing their brows at him.

Charlie had a feeling the day was going to seem a lot longer than both Mr. Wonka and he had hoped.


	2. Chapter 2

Chosen Chapter 2

Charlie walked into his seventh grade classroom with a sense of dread. The bus ride to school had been awkward, to say the very least: several girls stared at him during the whole trip; several guys did, too, but instead of having smiles on their faces, they were glaring at him.

Why was it such a big deal that he had moved into Mr. Wonka's chocolate factory? He honestly didn't know. Sure, he had gained a little fame at school after he had found the golden ticket and returned to school after visiting the factory. Some classmates had wanted to hear about the factory and Mr. Wonka, while others wanted to ask him for chocolate since they knew one of the prizes was a truck full of all the chocolate you could ever eat. When he had first read that in the fine print on the ticket, he had been skeptical, because surely it would run out eventually, but after he had returned home after declining Mr. Wonka's offer the first time, he had found that statement to be quite true. He had a suspicion that Oompa-Loompas refilled what had been eaten every night. Of course, that did leave the question of whether Mr. Wonka did this for Augustus, Violet, Veruca, and Mike or not since they lived farther away, but every time he tried to find out, the great chocolatier would merely say that was a lesson for another day.

Sometimes it seemed like he could spend his whole life learning about the chocolate factory and he'd still never catch up with Willy Wonka. That thought intimidated him, because when Mr. Wonka retired and handed the factory over to him, he wanted to show his mentor that he had made the right choice in choosing him for an heir. True, it was a lot of pressure, but they did have a lot of fun while trying to obtain that goal. Mr. Wonka called it work, but it wasn't work at all…at least not in the sense that his family and he had known it for years and years.

"Charlie Bucket, I presume. Are you going to stand at the door all day or join us?"

Charlie snapped out of his reverie and stared at the teacher who had spoken to him. He could feel a heat rise to his cheeks, so he quickly rushed inside the room and chose the first empty desk he saw. "I'm sorry, Mrs.…uh."

The teacher smiled warmly at him and said, "Yes, I suppose I should make the introductions. Everyone, my name is Mrs. Bates. I'm your homeroom teacher, as well as your seventh grade English teacher…"

Try as he might, Charlie tried to pay attention to Mrs. Bates, but as his eyes followed the teacher around the room as she moved, he noticed that several of his classmates were once again staring at him. He sighed and looked down at his desk. Then, a folded piece of paper flew into the center of it. He looked around to see who had thrown it and a girl beside him, Melanie, smiled at him. Surprised, he unfolded it quickly and read, " _Is it true you really moved in with Willy Wonka?"_

Swallowing nervously, Charlie got a pencil from his backpack and wrote, " _Yes._ " He slipped the note back to Melanie and watched as she read his reply. She smiled warmly at him, and Charlie quickly turned back towards the teacher, blushing profusely.

Melanie Croft had never noticed him before.

=)=)=)

Willy Wonka sat at a table in the center of his Invention Room and stared at a lump of chocolate from Fudge Mountain. He didn't know what he wanted to do with it or if he would even do anything at all. When he had left the bus stop and returned inside earlier, he had decided he wanted to be productive while Charlie was away, but he found the task a little difficult.

He was worried.

All the memories of his school days filled his mind: the teasing had been relentless, especially during the younger days when he had worn those God-awful braces his father had given him. Then, of course, the kids would torture him every day when he'd looked around and seen various candies being pulled out of their sack lunches that he could never taste. All he had was broccoli for a snack…

Of course, he knew those things wouldn't happen to Charlie. He didn't wear braces and he certainly had all the candy he wanted…but Willy still worried. He hated that his protégé would have to face the real world without any help he and the Oompa-Loompas could give him.

Suddenly, he sat up straighter in his seat. " _Of course, that's it_!" he thought as he moved his tongue frantically outside his mouth to call for one of his workers.

As soon as one arrived, he smiled and said, "I want you to run along to Charlie's school and see how he's doing. Don't let him see you and return at once with a report as soon as you can. If there is any trouble…help him."

The Oompa-Loompa folded his arms across his chest and bowed immediately as he slapped his hands to his side. When Wonka mimicked the first half of the ritual, the Oompa-Loompa left.

Willy was feeling a little better already.

=)=)=)

It was recess and their history teacher Mr. DuBose decided to take them outside for thirty minutes. As the children ran outside, Charlie noticed that everyone immediately broke into their own groups, which were thankfully the same as last year's.

He walked over to his group of friends and said, "Hey, guys!"

Kevin, Bobby, and Justin turned to stare at Charlie and it took them a couple of seconds to respond. "Hey," Justin said finally, after shrugging at the other two boys.

Just when Charlie was about to feel a little nervous, the other two laughed and started pushing Charlie on his shoulders roughly. "How was your summer?" Kevin asked. "Is it true you moved into the chocolate factory?"

Everything seemed to return to that question that day, so Charlie sighed and said, "Yes, I did."

"Wow!" Bobby commented. "Ol' Wonka must have really liked you, huh?"

"He did. I won the contest, after all."

The boys looked at each other questioningly and Kevin asked, "Didn't all of you win the contest since you found the golden tickets?"

That's when Charlie realized his mistake. While it was true that all five children had won the contest of finding the golden ticket, only he had won the factory, and it was something that the public was unaware of. Mr. Wonka and he had never discussed what he should tell others about their arrangement, but he knew Mr. Wonka was a very private man, so he had decided to keep that information to himself.

Talking to his friends now, he tried to cover up what he truly meant: "The others couldn't stay out of trouble. They didn't listen to Mr. Wonka or follow his rules. I was the only one who did."

"Yeah, but you did go home, Charlie, and live at home for months before finally moving into the factory. What changed during that time to make him want to move you in? And, why did he want you to in the first place?"

Charlie wanted to say that Mr. Wonka had wanted him to move in right away and that _he_ had been the one to delay it, but then he knew that would only bring more questions that he didn't want to answer. So, he merely shrugged at his friends.

All four boys looked at each other silently until Kevin, Bobby, and Justin began to shove on one another and then run off laughing and leaving Charlie by himself.

=)=)=)

When Charlie arrived back at the factory later in the afternoon, he went straight into his home in the Chocolate Room. He ran up the ladder to his bedroom as quickly as he could while his mother stepped away from the stove and called his name.

"Charlie?" she called. When her son didn't respond, she bit her lip and walked to the bottom of his ladder. "Is everything all right, son? How was school?"

"It was fine," Charlie yelled. He didn't want to talk right now. As a matter of fact, he wanted to do nothing more than fall asleep and forget about the day...

"Are you sure?" she asked. When he didn't answer, she looked over at the home's other occupants and they shrugged at her. Grandpa Joe stood from bed and said, "First days are always rough. I'm sure his spirits will rise when Mr. Wonka arrives. He still has plans to take him to the Bubble Room after all."

Resignedly, Mrs. Bucket returned to the stove to finish preparing their dinner. Mr. Bucket would be home soon and undoubtedly Willy would also be joining them. She wanted to have everything ready in time for their arrivals.

=)=)=)

Later that afternoon, Mr. Bucket and Willy Wonka walked into the home together. They had met outside in the Chocolate Room and as usual, he had invited the chocolatier to dinner. Willy readily accepted and followed the elder inside.

Instantly, Willy performed his normal ritual when entering the home. He would acknowledge the adults with a look in their directions before looking for his protégé. It was then that he noticed Charlie was not present. "Where's Charlie?" he asked, sounding confused and a little concerned.

Mrs. Bucket pursed her lips and looked from Willy to Mr. Bucket. "As soon as he came home, he ran upstairs and hasn't been down since. I think he must have had a bad day at school."

Willy immediately furrowed his brow and said, "But my worker said he was fine..."

When Charlie's family looked at him questioningly, he straightened his posture and pressed his lips together firmly. Simultaneously, Willy and Mr. Bucket took a few steps towards the ladder and pumped into each other.

"Oh, I was going upstairs to talk to him," Willy mumbled, stepping away so they were no longer touching.

"Yes, I was going to do the same," Mr. Bucket replied. They stared at one another for a moment before they heard Charlie's voice.

"Mr. Wonka can come up, Dad. I don't mind!"

With a look of reluctance, Mr. Bucket forced a smile and stepped aside. Taking immediate advantage, Mr. Wonka went to the ladder and climbed up it without looking at anyone else. Once he reached the top, he remained bent as he hobbled over to Charlie's bed. The boy was lying there quietly, and Mr. Wonka could see the glistening of tears in his eyes.

"My dear boy, what's the matter?" he asked as he sat down beside Charlie on the bed.

Charlie immediately sat up and looked at Mr. Wonka briefly before turning his head downward towards the mattress. "I don't think I'm going to like this school year," Charlie muttered.


End file.
